£2.4m confiscated from criminals who profited from land and carbon credit scams

15 October 2015

Several million pounds are to be confiscated from six criminals, five of whom are currently jailed, who profited from scams that saw hundreds of elderly investors sold worthless plots of land and valueless carbon credits.

This marks one of the biggest ever cash confiscations for the City of London Police.

The action comes after the Economic Crime Directorate’s Asset Recovery Team applied to the court to recover the profits of the scams in 2014 after investigations by their Fraud Squad colleagues resulted in the six being sentenced for fraud and money laundering offences.

Between 2005 and 2010 Matthew Noad and Clive Griston ran a London-based boiler room, assisted by Harry Neal, which took in more than £10 million from victims conned into believing they would make returns of several hundred percent from sites across the UK that were ripe for housing development.

In reality the land, located in Dumbarton in Scotland, Towcester in Northampton and Collumpton in Devon, had little or no value, with much of it situated in greenfield belts, flood zones or areas of historical or environmental significance with no prospect of planning permission.

The City of London Police first got wind of the scam in 2010 when they started seeing more and more reports from people concerned about investments they had made in three companies – Browne Mackenzie, Lawrence Taylor and Charles Barkley.

Having launched a nationwide investigation, supported by local forces, detectives arrested the pair in December of that year in Bromley on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.

But once released on bail the two men moved quickly to set-up a new boiler room in the City of London, this time to sell valueless carbon credits.

As with the land banking fraud, potential investors were initially contacted by cold-callers promising high percentage returns, with those expressing an interest bombarded with further calls and sent glossy brochures promoting the benefits of signing up to the scheme.

Between August 2011 and December 2012 Clive Griston and Matthew Noad made another million pounds, all of which was swiftly spent before they were arrested for a second time by the City of London Police in September 2012.

Many of their victims, in both the land banking and carbon credit frauds, were well into retirement with no prospect of ever being able recoup the money they had lost.

A blind 89-year-old man from Cardiff was reported to have paid £94,000 for plots of land in Dumbarton. He was told the area was primed for development when in reality it had been earmarked to be designated greenbelt land by the local council.

An 87-year-old retired teacher, living alone, invested £87,000 with Capital Carbon Credits, telling how she was continually pressurised over the phone into handing over more and more of her savings until there was none left to give.

The money that was not blown immediately was handed to Griston’s partner, Kerry Golesworthy and Matthew Noad’s parents, Linda and Roger to launder the funds through their own bank accounts.

The six were sentenced to the following, at the Old Bailey, in trials throughout 2014:

Matthew Noad of Forest Drive in Kent, jailed to four years and eight months and disqualified from being a company director for ten years.

Clive Griston of Larch Dene in Kent, jailed to four years and eight months and disqualified from being a company director for ten years.

Harry Neal of London Lane in Bromley, jailed for three years.

Kerry Golesworthy of Larch Dene in Kent, jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Linda Noad of Stonehouse Road in Kent, two year custodial sentence suspended for two years.

Roger Noad of Stonehouse Road in Kent, jailed for three years.

Earlier today (Oct 13), at the same court, the six were order to repay the following:

Matthew Noad = £872,341.34

Clive Griston = £67,781.65

Harry Neal = £42,896.83

Kerry Golesworthy = £849,671.17

Linda Noad = £271,999.75

Roger Noad = £271,999.75

Total - £2,376,690.49

Detective Sergeant Mel Moody, from the City of London Police Asset Recovery Team, said:

“We are very pleased that our investigation has now concluded with this gang of investment fraudsters and money launderers being stripped of both their liberty and all the proceeds of their crime. We now look forward to returning the recovered funds to the rightful owners.

“Today’s confiscation hearing also serves as a further warning to fraudsters that the work of the City of London Police does not stop with a successful prosecution, but instead marks the moment when we switch our focus to seizing all their assets.”

City of London Police Commander Chris Greany, who is the National Police Coordinator for Economic Crime, added:

“Asset Recovery is an absolutely vital part of what we do as the National Policing Lead for Fraud and this case represents one of our best ever results. A successful prosecution brings a measure of comfort to victims of fraud. However, what really helps victims recover from what can be an extremely traumatic experience is when law enforcement returns what has been taken from them.”

The Asset Recovery Team comprises Accredited Financial Investigators who specialise in identifying, tracing and seizing the proceeds of crime from organised crime groups and those convicted by the City of London Police.

They work closely with the force’s Fraud Squad, which takes on many of the UK’s most complex and high profile cases of fraud.